NorthStar commonly prints scientific posters in the following sizes:

24 × 36 inches

• Landscape: 36 inches wide × 24 inches high

• Portrait: 24 inches wide × 36 inches high

36 × 48 inches

• Landscape: 48 inches wide × 36 inches high

• Portrait: 36 inches wide × 48 inches high

Important

Do not design your poster using PowerPoint's standard 16:9 presentation size.

Your PowerPoint slide should be set to the actual finished dimensions of your poster before you begin designing it.

Windows

1. Open PowerPoint.

2. Select Design.

3. Select Slide Size.

4. Choose Custom Slide Size.

5. Enter the exact width and height of your finished poster.

6. Select the appropriate orientation.

7. Click OK.

If PowerPoint asks whether you want to Maximize or Ensure Fit, select Ensure Fit if you already have content on the slide.

Mac

1. Open PowerPoint.

2. Select Design.

3. Select Slide Size.

4. Choose Page Setup or Custom Slide Size.

5. Enter the exact width and height.

6. Confirm the orientation.

7. Click OK.

NorthStar Tip

Set your poster size before adding text, figures, photographs, graphs, or logos.

Changing the slide dimensions after the poster has been designed can cause text, images, and other elements to shift or resize unexpectedly.

We recommend keeping important text, logos, QR codes, figures, and other critical information at least:

0.5 inch from every edge

This creates a comfortable visual margin and reduces the possibility of important information appearing too close to the finished poster edge.

Background colors and decorative graphics may extend to the edge when appropriate.

Scientific posters are meant to be read from several feet away.

As a general starting point:

• Poster title: 72–120 pt

• Authors and affiliations: 36–54 pt

• Section headings: 32–44 pt

• Body text: 24–32 pt

• Figure captions: 18–24 pt

• References: 16–22 pt

These are recommendations rather than absolute requirements.

NorthStar Tip

View your poster at 100% magnification before submission. If the body text feels difficult to read on your screen at full size, it may also be difficult to read when printed.

Avoid squeezing excessive amounts of text onto the poster. Clear visual organization is usually more effective than trying to reproduce an entire manuscript.

Low-resolution images are one of the most common causes of disappointing poster prints.

Whenever possible, use:

• Original photographs

• High-resolution figures

• Original charts and graphs

• Vector graphics

• SVG files

• High-quality PNG or TIFF images

Avoid:

• Screenshots

• Images copied from websites

• Images copied from email

• Small JPEG files enlarged to fill large spaces

• Photographs of figures or computer screens

Recommended Image Resolution

For photographs and raster graphics, NorthStar recommends approximately:

150 pixels per inch minimum at final printed size

200–300 pixels per inch preferred

For example, if an image will print 10 inches wide, a 3000-pixel-wide image will provide approximately:

3000 pixels ÷ 10 inches = 300 pixels per inch

That image should reproduce very well.

A 500-pixel-wide image enlarged to 10 inches would provide only 50 pixels per inch and will likely appear blurry or pixelated.

PowerPoint may automatically compress photographs and other images.

For the best possible output, consider disabling image compression before completing your poster.

In PowerPoint, look under:

File → Options → Advanced → Image Size and Quality

Select:

Do not compress images in file

When available, select the highest available image-quality setting.

University logos and colors are important parts of institutional identity.

Whenever possible, use official institutional color specifications rather than selecting a color that simply “looks close.”

PowerPoint allows you to enter exact HEX or RGB values when selecting custom colors.

How to Enter a HEX Color in PowerPoint

1. Select the object, text, or shape you want to color.

2. Open the appropriate Color menu.

3. Select More Colors.

4. Choose Custom.

5. Enter the institution's HEX or RGB value.

6. Apply the color.

University of Minnesota System

Applies to:

• University of Minnesota Twin Cities

• University of Minnesota Duluth

• University of Minnesota Morris

• University of Minnesota Crookston

• University of Minnesota Rochester

Maroon: #7A0019

Gold: #FFCC33

Minnesota State University, Mankato

Purple: #5C2D91

Gold: #FFCC33

St. Cloud State University

Spirit Red: #CD1041

Black: #000000

Iowa State University

Cardinal: #C8102E

Gold: #F1BE48

University of South Dakota

Coyote Red: #AD0000

South Dakota State University

Jackrabbit Blue: #0033A0

Yellow: #FFCC00

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Badger Red: #C5050C

White: #FFFFFF

Use only official university, department, laboratory, hospital, sponsor, or organizational logos.

Whenever possible:

• Download logos from the organization's official brand website.

• Use SVG, EPS, PDF, or other vector formats when available.

• Do not stretch logos disproportionately.

• Do not change official logo colors unless permitted.

• Do not copy logos from Google Images or screenshots.

• Do not enlarge very small logo files.

A logo that looks acceptable on a laptop screen may become visibly pixelated when printed several inches wide.

NorthStar strongly recommends submitting your final poster as a PDF file.

The PDF should be the exact physical size of the finished poster.

Windows

In PowerPoint:

1. Select File.

2. Choose Export or Save As.

3. Select PDF.

4. Choose Standard / Publishing Online and Printing or the highest print-quality option available.

5. Save your PDF.

Mac

In PowerPoint:

1. Select File.

2. Choose Save As or Export.

3. Select PDF as the file format.

4. Choose the highest-quality or print-quality option available.

5. Save your PDF.

Important

Do not select “Minimum Size” or another low-resolution PDF option.

Whenever possible, avoid creating the final poster through a generic Print to PDF workflow. Exporting directly from PowerPoint generally provides more predictable poster dimensions and output quality.

After creating the PDF, open it and carefully inspect the finished file.

Check:

☐ Poster dimensions are correct

☐ Orientation is correct

☐ Nothing is cut off

☐ Text has not moved

☐ Fonts appear correctly

☐ Greek letters and scientific symbols display correctly

☐ Equations display correctly

☐ Images remain sharp

☐ Graphs and charts are readable

☐ University and organizational logos are sharp

☐ QR codes work

☐ Backgrounds appear correctly

☐ No unwanted white borders were introduced

☐ The PDF looks exactly the way you want the printed poster to look

Your PDF is the wrong size.

Text or images are cut off.

Photographs or figures appear blurry or pixelated.

Fonts, equations, or scientific symbols changed during PDF creation.

Your PDF does not match your intended poster design.

Fix these issues before submitting your file.

Scientific poster preparation can be confusing — especially if you have never been formally taught how to design a large-format research poster.

That's why NorthStar Scientific Poster Printing has developed additional resources to help.

Download the NorthStar Scientific Poster Setup & PDF Export Guide

Step-by-step instructions for PowerPoint sizing, layout, image resolution, university colors, and PDF preparation.

Download the NorthStar Poster Preflight Checklist

A convenient one-page checklist to review immediately before submitting your poster.